EVENT: MELPOMENE ▒ HOME

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: Corridors in the belly of the Tranquility
WARNINGS: Creepiness, disturbing imagery, violence, etc.
SUMMARY: Characters discover slices of sanctuary deep in the maze.
NOTES: Open to all! Covers Stage Four of the plot & Escape.

You've been running and fighting for what feels like weeks now. Exhausted and desperate, you find another door, stumbling through into— You're home, finally, far away and safe from monsters or spaceships. You're not alone, someone here who's been waiting for you, and they're so happy to see you. Relief overcomes you; you just want to rest, and there's no reason to believe anything here isn't what it seems, is there?

Comments

[unmothered]

[Regina's expression tightens. She knows that it isn't Henry now. But it still hurts hearing him talk to her like that, like he had back when the curse was still working. She knows he doesn't think of her as a villain. At least, she hopes he doesn't. And this isn't him anyway.

She scowls and flicks her hand, fire blossoming in her palm.]

This strong enough for you?

[gilding]

[Gold looks distinctly unimpressed with the whole situation - Henry talking about knowing what they are, Regina summoning up a fireball, Emma still stood there as if her cocoa has hypnotic properties.]

I thought we were hoping to rescue her, not roast her.

[As unused as he might be to being in the rescuer's shoes, he's fairly certain that a handful of fire isn't quite the touch necessary. Unless Regina wants to take care of Henry, a matter which Gold is all too happy to leave to her.

For the moment, the boy's taken himself out of Gold's way, albeit briefly, and he takes advantage to step forward, swing his cane up into his hand, and use it to reach across the kitchen counter and shove Emma none too gently in the shoulder.]

[uncurse]

[ Henry lets out a shout when he notices Gold poking his mom with a stick out of the corner of his eye. Although Henry runs for him, veritably attempting to bodily shove Gold away, it’s too late. The cup drops, spilling hot cocoa over the counter and into Emma’s lap. She jumps to her feet, eyes suddenly alert.

But when she looks at Gold and Regina, she still hasn’t reached recognition.

They don’t look like themselves. Emma’s mind, she supposes, is summoning up some vague similarity to project there, but their features seem almost melted away, twisted into something disgusting. Her stomach turns and she staggers back from the counter. ]

What the hell?! [ The cocoa has been sitting out for god knows how long (she can’t remember—why can’t she remember?) but it still feels scalding as it seeps into her jeans and the bottom of her tanktop. Her son quickly steals her attention and her head whips in that direction towards Gold. ] Henry!

[ What the actual fuck is going on, a memoir. ]

[unmothered]

It's not Henry. [Her voice is dry. She lets the fireball fade away and steps towards her.] Believe me, I wish it were. [Even if he's apparently telling Emma bad things. Even if he wants her gone. At least if it were Henry, she'd know where he was, and know he was safe.] But he's not... he's not here, Emma. You know that.

[gilding]

[Gold's almost surprised that it worked, really. He'd expected the boy's adamant protection to mean that some kind of contact was necessary, but likely more than a firm push. Still, there's not much to be complained about in efficiency, and Gold lets his cane settle back into his hand, watching Emma's features shift through a variety of expressions-- and settle on concern over her son. Of course.

Gold feels a lot like rolling his eyes, but instead just turns enough to look at 'Henry', as unimpressed as he was the first time.]

You might need to take care of that.

[In anyone else there might be some sympathy for having to handle a near exact duplicate of her son. But Gold has small reserves of empathy on a good day, and the imposter is not Henry. He'd expect no different from Regina, if their positions were reversed.]

I'd really rather not go through this circus again.

[uncurse]

[ Coming from a friend, Emma might believe that. But the room—or possibly Henry’s presence in it—has warped her perception to where neither of them look quite like Gold and Regina. ]

[ Besides. Of all the people she’d trust? Neither of them made the list. ]

[ Emma looks between them and, truthfully, all she can see is that they’re trying to get her to — what? Leave her son? When Regina steps closer, Emma draws her gun and levels it at her. ]

Don’t come any closer.

[ She turns the weapon on Gold. ]

Get away from him.

[unmothered]

[This is going to hurt.

Not physically. Despite knowing what Emma's capable of, despite the gun, Regina's not really worried about the potential of that pain. Wounds heal. Or they don't, and she's no worse off than she'd be before, only she'd probably hurt a lot less.

She steps forward.]

Emma. We've had our... differences to say the least. But you know there's one thing I'd never, ever do. And that's hurt my son.

[Not intentionally, anyway. Her expression hardens.]

So know that I'm only doing this because I am absolutely certain that's not Henry.

[And with that, she lets loose a fireball, sending it crashing into the fake Henry.

She can't look. Despite her big words, it feels far too much like intentionally trying to murder her son. Emma better appreciate all this when she comes back to herself.]

[uncurse]

[ Someone is gonna need to restrain Emma because she drops the gun in favor of running for the pillar of flame and ash that Regina has reduced her son to. The clarity washes over her with a sudden snap. It’s definitely her, but that doesn’t prove her any comfort. ]

[ Regina has hurt Henry, over and over again, with her magic. The cursed town, the sleeping curse, her attempts to kill the whole town and kidnap him back to the Enchanted Forest wasteland. And, most recently, that stupid trigger that had been indirectly responsible for his kidnapping to begin with. ]

[ There’s nothing comforting in her words, no persuasion in her actions, and Emma lets out a simple, anguished shout, which dissolves into a strangled cry. ]

[gilding]

[It takes a second longer than it possibly should for it to register that yes, Emma really is going to run full-on into the flaming figure of the facsimile. Gold could almost let his frustrations about this whole mess get the better of him and allow her the injury to go with her foolishness, but instead lifts a hand in a sharp, slicing gesture. She runs into a solid, invisible barrier only steps away from the crumpling, charred body of what had been the false Henry, saving her from burning but apparently not from distress.

Not that he's ever had the magic to solve that.]

You're standing in the middle of an illusion, Miss Swan. [He sounds almost helpful, for a moment, instruction in a level but firm tone. And then something more like dissatisfaction creeps in.] I would have hoped you'd realise that already.

[unmothered]

Let's get out of here. [Regina's voice is dry and shakier than she'd like anyone ever to hear. She's just killed her son. Knowing logically that it's just an illusion doesn't make the sight of his face turning to ash any less vivid. She wants to vomit but she can't, not in front of Gold and Emma.

She takes a steadying breath and forces her to look up at Emma. She's ready to see the hatred in Emma's face. It doesn't matter, so long as they get out.]

Miss Swan, are you going to come with us, or do we have to coerce you?

[uncurse]

[ She collides with the wall, and immediately her hands raise to start pounding against the barrier. Gold’s words wash over her without ever truly sinking in—simply for the reason that she doesn’t want to hear them. She wants to believe that she’s really seeing him again, for the first time in nearly a year. She wants to cling to that hope. ]

[ Devastated, allowing Regina’s words to drain her, she slumps to the ground against the invisible barrier, watching the fire finish consuming the shade and leaving only smoke and tiny flecks of ash in its wake. ]

[ Her gaze turns hollow, but not the same kind of catatonic that she was previously. Tears stain her cheeks and redden the edges of her eyes. Pushing her tongue out to wet chapped lips, she steadily cranes her head back towards the Evil Queen. ]

[ Her rescuer. ]

[ Emma’s stomach turns. She wants to lunge for her, to lash out with all the fury she can muster, but all she finds is emptiness. It was a lie. He was never really here, and all she’s left with is the same emptiness that has been eating a hole inside of her since she arrived here without him. ]

Where the hell is here?

[ She can’t remember, but it’s obviously not really Mary Margaret’s apartment. It doesn’t even occur to her, immediately, that it’s odd because she’s distracted as the edges of the room begin to fold in on themselves. Darkness spreads like a disease up and across the walls, webbing out to consume and decay the apartment. ]

[unmothered]

The Tranquility. It's a space ship. [She doesn't even try to make that sound not ridiculous. She looks around, far too aware of the darkness on the walls. She steps forward and grabs Emma's arm.] And we can continue this conversation when we get out of here.

[She looks towards Gold, a silent don't just stand there demand in her expression.]

[gilding]

[Emma's lingering confusion is inconvenient, but not as badly so as her belief in the illusion had been - they can resolve it better when they're free from the room, a course of action that's looking more and more pressing as the seconds tick by. Still, he meets Regina's gaze with an equally impatient and unimpressed look.]

Any suggestion on an exit would be very welcome.

[uncurse]

[ Emma gives Regina a look like nO FUCKING KIDDING IT'S A SPACE SHIP. Thanks, bitch. The weird part is that Mary Margaret's apartment is apparently in it. She stows that confusion for a moment and glances behind her to the glowing white door that ... should lead to the bathroom, but definitely doesn't. Not that way.

And Gold and Regina had come through the front door, so ... Emma's eyes flick up the stairs. She moves away from the kitchen island. ]

Come on. There's a bedroom upstairs.

[ Because obviously none of these doors are leading to where they're actually supposed to lead, so somehow that seems like a reasonable suggestion. Just when she moves towards the stairs, the island begins to sink steadily into the floor as if it's black, noxious quicksand. The room is collapsing in on itself. ]

[unmothered]

[That... can't be good. Regina stops on the staircase, turning to stair in horror at the sinking island.]

You two are the experts here. That isn't supposed to happen, right?

[But she's definitely not curious enough to stop moving for long. She starts backing up the stairs faster, hoping Emma's right about the bedroom.]

[gilding]

[Gold looks over his shoulder just as the top of the kitchen island disappears, the black substance already seeming to spread through the floor, approaching the very staircase they're standing on.]

Let's not linger to watch it.

[He looks more irritated than scared, but that wasn't really unusual for him. At least Regina was already moving. He can only hope Emma's guess at another doorway was correct, because they weren't getting back down to try any others.]

[uncurse]

[ This is a useless tag of Emma moving towards the stairs because GET IT TOGETHER REGINA BEEP BEEP. ]

[unmothered]

{Regina's done looking behind her, instead hurrying up the stairs, scrambling for the bedroom door. She grabs the doorknob and wrenches it open.]